Transcriber’s Note
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[Illustration: SELKIRK

AND

STARBOARD.]

[Illustration: “He never heard a sound more dismal than their parting
oars.”—p. 8.]




  THE

  LIFE AND ADVENTURES

  OF

  ALEXANDER SELKIRK,

  THE REAL ROBINSON CRUSOE.

  A NARRATIVE FOUNDED ON FACTS.

  [Illustration: Decoration]

  NEW-YORK:

  PUBLISHED BY M. DAY & CO. 374 PEARL-STREET,

  AND

  BAKER, CRANE & CO. 158 PEARL-STREET.

  James Egbert, Printer.

  1841.




ADVENTURES

OF

ALEXANDER SELKIRK.


Alexander Selkirk was born in the year 1676, and was the seventh son
of John Selkirk, shoemaker and tanner, in Largo, Scotland. His mother
looked upon him as one that would pass through some great events, and
she resolved to have him push his fortune at sea, where he went in
his nineteenth year, to escape the rebuke of his unruly conduct. He
was from home six years; and again being guilty of very bad behavior,
and having beaten a young infirm brother, and raised a riot in his
father’s house, he was publicly reprimanded: upon this, he left home,
and being a skilful seaman, was appointed Sailing Master, in a
vessel called the Cinque Ports—a small sailor which went in company
with captain Dampier to the South Sea.

Having quarrelled with his captain, and having had a dream that his
ship would be wrecked, he resolved to quit it, and was set on shore
at the uninhabited island of _Juan Fernandez_. He had scarcely left
the boat, when he sorely repented, and he “never heard a sound more
dismal than their parting oars.”

[Illustration: Selkirk sitting on rock]

[Illustration: Selkirk catching Seals.]

From the beginning to the end of September, the vessel remained
undergoing repairs. The disagreement, instead of being made up,
became greater every day, and strengthened the resolution which
Selkirk had made to leave the vessel. This was accordingly concluded
on, and just before getting under way, he was landed with all his
effects; and he leaped on shore with a faint sensation of freedom
and joy. He shook hands with his comrades, and bade them adieu in
a hearty manner, while the officer sat in the boat urging their
return to the ship, which order they instantly obeyed; but no sooner
did the sound of their oars, as they left the beach, fall on his
ears, than the horrors of being left alone, cut off from all human
society, perhaps forever, rushed upon his mind. His heart sunk
within him, and all his resolution failed. He rushed into the water,
and implored them to return and take him on board with them. To all
his entreaties his comrades turned a deaf ear, and even mocked his
despair; denouncing the choice he had made of remaining upon the
island, as rank mutiny, and describing his present situation as the
most proper state for such a fellow, where his example would not
affect others.

For many days after being left alone, Selkirk was under such great
dejection of mind, that he never tasted food until urged by extreme
hunger; nor did he go to sleep until he could watch no longer; but
sat with his eyes fixed in the direction where he had seen his
shipmates depart, fondly hoping that they would return and free
him from his misery. Thus he remained seated upon his chest, until
darkness shut out every object from his sight. Then did he close his
weary eyes, but not in sleep; for morning found him still anxiously
hoping the return of the vessel.

When urged by hunger, he fed upon seals and such shell-fish as he
could pick up along the shore. The reason of this was the aversion he
felt to leave the beach, and the care he took to save his powder.
Though seals, and shell-fish were but sorry fare, his greatest cross
was the want of salt and bread, which made him loathe his food until
he got used to it.

It was in the beginning of October (1704,) which in those southern
latitudes is the middle of spring, when nature appears in a thousand
varieties of form and fragrance, quite unknown in northern climates;
but the agitation of his mind, and the forlorn situation in which he
was now placed, caused all its charms to be unregarded.

It was in this trying situation, when his mind, deprived of all
outward occupation, was turned back upon itself, that the whole
advantages of that great blessing, a religious education in his
youth, was felt in its consoling influences, when every other hope
and comfort had fled.

This circumstance ought to lead young people to prize their social
and religious privileges, as they know not but that some day, like
Selkirk, their lot may be cast far from home, and from pious family
opportunities, the absence of which were then so much regretted by
this lonely man.

By slow degrees he became easy to his fate; and as winter approached,
he saw the necessity of procuring some kind of shelter from the
weather; for even in that temperate climate, frost is common during
the night, and snow is sometimes found upon the ground in the morning.

The building of a hut was the first thing that roused him to
exertion; and his necessary absence from the shore gradually weaned
his heart from that aim which had alone filled all his thoughts and
proved a help of his obtaining that peace of mind he afterwards
enjoyed; but it was eighteen months before he became fully composed,
or could be one whole day absent from the beach, and from his usual
hopeless watch for some vessel to relieve him from his melancholy
situation.

During his stay, he built himself two huts with the wood of the
pimento tree, and thatched them with a species of grass, that grows
to the height of seven or eight feet upon the plains and smaller
hills, and produces straw resembling that of oats. The one was much
larger than the other, and situated near a spacious wood.

This he made his sleeping room, spreading the bed clothes he had
brought on shore with him upon a frame of his own construction;
and as those wore out, or were used for other purposes, he supplied
their places with goat skins. His pimento bed-room he used also as
his chapel; for here he kept up that simple but beautiful form of
family worship which he had been accustomed to in his father’s house.
To distinguish the Sabbath, he kept an exact account of the days of
every week and month, during the time he remained upon the island.

The smaller hut, which Selkirk had erected at some distance from the
other, was used by him as a kitchen in which he dressed his victuals.
The furniture was very scanty; but consisted of every convenience his
island could afford. His most valuable article was the pot or kettle
he had brought from the ship, to boil his meat in; the spit was his
own handiwork, made of such wood as grew upon the island; the rest
was suitable to his rudely built house. Around his dwelling browsed a
parcel of goats remarkably tame, which he had taken when young, and
lamed, but so as not to injure their health, while he kept down their
speed. These he kept as a store, in the event of a sickness or any
accident befalling him, that might prevent him from catching others;
his sole method of doing which, was running them down by speed of
foot. The pimento wood, which burns very bright and clear served him
both for fuel and candle. It gives out an agreeable perfume while
burning.

[Illustration: Selkirk reading his Bible.]

He obtained fire after the Indian method, by rubbing two pieces of
pimento wood together until they caught fire. This he did, as being
ill able to spare any of his linen for tinder, time being of no
value to him, and the labour rather an amusement. Having recovered
his peace of mind, he began likewise to enjoy greater variety in his
food, and was continually adding some new thing to his store. The
craw-fish, many of which weighed eight or nine pounds, he broiled or
boiled as his fancy led, seasoning it with pimento, (Jamaica pepper)
and at length came to relish his food without salt.

As a substitute for bread, he used the cabbage-palm, which was plenty
on the island; turnips, or their tops, and likewise a species of
parsnip, of good taste and flavor. He had also Sicilian radishes and
watercresses, which he found in the neighboring brooks, as well as
many other vegetables found on the island, which he ate with his fish
or goat’s flesh.

Having food in abundance, and the climate being healthy and pleasant,
in about eighteen months he became easy in his situation. The time
hung no longer heavy upon his hands. His devotions and frequent
study of the Scriptures, soothed and elevated his mind: and this,
coupled with the vigor of his health, and a constant serene sky, and
temperate air, rendered his life one continual feast. His feelings
were now as joyful as they had before been sorrowful. He took delight
in every thing around him; fixed up the hut in which he lay, with
fragrant branches, cut from a spacious wood, on the side of which
it was situated, and thereby formed a pleasant bower, fanned with
continual breezes, soft and balmy as poets describe, which made his
repose, after the fatigues of the chase, very gratifying.

Yet happy and contented as he became, there were cares that broke
in upon his pleasing thoughts, as it were to place his situation
on a level with that of other human beings; for it is the lot of
man to care while he dwells on earth. During the early part of his
residence, he was much annoyed by multitudes of rats, which gnawed
his feet and other parts of his body, as he slept during the night.
To remedy this evil, he caught and tamed after much exertion and
patient toil, some of the cats that ran wild on the island. These
new friends soon put the rats to flight, and became themselves
the companions of his leisure hours. He amused himself by teaching
them to dance, and do a number of antic feats. They multiplied so
fast too, under his fostering hand, that they lay upon his bed, and
upon the floor in great numbers: and although freed from his former
troublesome visitors, yet, so strangely are we formed, that when one
care is removed, another takes its place.

[Illustration: Selkirk amusing himself with his Cats.]

These very protectors became a source of great uneasiness to him:
for the idea haunted his mind, and made him at times melancholy,
that, after his death there would be no one to bury his remains, or
to supply the cats with food, his body must be devoured by the very
animals which he at present nourished for his convenience.

The island abounds in goats, which he shot while his powder lasted,
and afterwards caught by speed of foot. At first he could only
overtake kids: but latterly, so much did his frugal life, joined to
air and exercise, improve his strength and habits of body, that he
could run down the strongest goat on the island in a few minutes, and
tossing it over his shoulders, carry it with ease to his hut. All
the by-ways and easy parts of the mountains became familiar to him.
He could bound from crag to crag, and slip down the precipices with
confidence.

With these helps, hunting soon became his chief amusement. It was his
custom, after running down the animals, to slit their ears, and then
allow them to escape. The young he carried to the green lawn beside
his hut, and employed his leisure hours in taming them. They in time
supplied him with milk, and even with amusement, as he taught them as
well as the cats to dance; and he often afterwards declared, that he
never danced with a lighter heart, or greater spirit, any where, to
the best of music, than he did to the sound of his own voice, with
his dumb companions.

As the northern part of the island where Alexander lived, is composed
of high craggy precipices, many of which are almost too hilly to
climb, though generally covered with wood, the soil is loose and
shallow, so that on the hills the largest trees soon perish for want
of nourishment, and are then very easily overturned. This was the
cause of the death of a seaman belonging to the Dutchess, who being
on the high ground in search of goats, caught hold of a tree to aid
his ascent, when it gave way and he rolled down the hill. In his
fall he grasped another of considerable bulk, which likewise failed
him, and he was thrown amongst the rocks and dashed to pieces. Mr.
Butt also met with an accident, merely by leaning his back to a tree
nearly as thick as himself, which stood upon a slope, almost without
any hold of the soil.

[Illustration: Selkirk catching a Goat.]

Our adventurer, himself nearly lost his life from a similar cause.
When pursuing a goat, he made a snatch at it on the brink of a
precipice, of which he was not aware, as some bushes concealed it
from them; the animal suddenly stopped; upon which he stretched
forward his hand to seize it, when the branches gave way, and they
both fell from a great height. Selkirk was so stunned and bruised by
the fall, that he lay deprived of sensation and almost of life. Upon
his recovery, he found the goat lying dead beneath him. This happened
about a mile from his hut. Scarcely was he able to crawl to it when
restored to his senses; and dreadful were his sufferings during
the first two or three of the ten days that he was confined by the
injury. This was the only disagreeable accident that befel him during
his long residence on the island.

W. Rogers says that Selkirk lay above the goat deprived of sensation,
for 24 hours; Sir R. Steele mentions three days. Selkirk, computed
the length of time by the moon’s growth from the last observation
which he had made on the evening before his fall.

He occasionally amused himself by cutting upon the trees his name,
and the date when he was left on the island, and at times added to
the first the period of his continuance; so averse is man to be
utterly forgotten by his fellow-man. Perishable as the material was
upon which he wrought, still the idea was pleasing to his lonely
mind, that when he should have ended his lonely life, some future
navigator would learn from these rude memorials, Alexander Selkirk
had lived and died upon the island. He had no materials for writing
wherewith to trace a more ample record. Upon Lord Anson’s arrival,
however at Juan Fernandez, in the year 1741, there was not, so far as
he observed, one of these names or dates to be discovered upon any of
the trees.

Abbe Raynal is not correct, when he says that Selkirk lost his speech
while upon the island. All that Cook asserts is, that, at his first
coming on board, he spoke his words as it were by halves, from
want of practice; while he states distinctly, that he carried on
conversation from the first and that his hesitating manner gradually
wore off.

As to his clothing it was very rude. Shoes he had none, as they
were soon worn out. This gave him very little concern, and he never
troubled himself in contriving any thing to supply their place. As
his other clothes decayed, he dried the skins of the goats he had
killed, to make into garments, sewing them with slender thongs of
leather, which he cut for the purpose, and using a sharp nail for
a needle. In this way he made for himself a cap, jacket, and short
breeches. The hair being left upon the skin, gave him a very strange
appearance; but in this dress he ran through the underwood, and
received as little injury as the animal he pursued. Having linen
cloth with him, he made it into shirts, sewing them by means of his
nail, and the thread of his worsted stockings, which he untwisted for
that purpose. Thus rudely equipped, he thought his wants sufficiently
supplied, fashion having no longer any rule over him. His goats and
cats being his sole companions, he was at least neighbor-like, and
looked as wild as they; his beard was of great length, as it had been
untouched since he left the ship. Still his mind was at ease, and
he danced and sang amongst his dumb companions, for hours together;
perhaps as happy a man, nay happier, than the gayest ball-room could
have presented, in the most civilized country upon earth.

One day, in his ramble along the beach, he found a few iron hoops,
which had been left by some vessel, as unworthy to be taken away.
This was to him a discovery that imparted more joy than if he had
found a treasure of gold or silver; for with them he made knives when
his own was worn out, and bad as they were, they stood him in great
stead. One of them, which he had used as a chopper, was about two
feet in length, and was long kept as a curiosity, at the Golden Head
Coffee-house, near Buckingham Gate, in England. It had been changed
from its original simple form, having when last seen, a buck’s horn
handle with some verses upon it.

[Illustration: Selkirk fired upon by the Spaniards.]

Alexander Selkirk, at different times during his stay, saw vessels
pass the island; but only two ever came to an anchor. At these times
he concealed himself; but, being anxious on one occasion to learn
whether the ship was French or Spanish, he approached too near, and
was perceived. A pursuit immediately commenced, and several shots
were fired in the direction in which he fled; but fortunately none of
them took effect, and he got up into a tree unobserved. His pursuers
stopped near it, and killed several of his goats, but the vessel soon
left the island. Cook says, “The prize being so inconsiderable, it is
likely they thought it not worth while to be at great trouble to find
it.” Had they been French, Alexander would have given himself up to
them; but, being Spaniards, he chose rather to stay upon the island,
and run the risk of dying alone, and even of being devoured by his
own cats, than fall into their hands, as they would, as he supposed,
either have murdered him in cold blood, or caused him to linger out
a life of misery in the mines of Peru or Mexico, unless he chose to
profess himself a Roman Catholic, and even then he would have been
compelled to pass his weary days in one of their coasting vessels in
the Pacific Ocean; for as we have already mentioned, it was one of
their maxims never to allow an Englishman to return to Europe, who
had gained any knowledge of the South Seas.

This adventure made him resolve to use more caution in future;
never a day passed but he anxiously looked out for some sail over
the vast expanse of ocean that lay before him; for, even in all his
tranquillity and peace of mind, the wish to leave the island never
entirely ceased to occupy his thoughts, and he would still have
hailed the arrival of an English ship with rapture.

On the 31st of January, 1709, behold! two English ships _did_
heave in sight of Alexander Selkirk’s dominions who was as usual,
anxiously watching the watery waste. Slowly the vessels rose into
view, and he could scarcely believe the sight real; for often had he
been deceived before. They gradually approached the island, and he
at length ascertained them to be English. Great was the tumult of
passion that rose in his mind; but the love of home overpowered them
all. It was late in the afternoon when they first came in sight, and
lest they should sail again without knowing that there was a person
on the island, he prepared a quantity of wood to burn as soon as it
was dark. He kept his eyes fixed upon them until night fall, and then
kindled his fire, and kept it up till morning dawned. His hopes and
fears having banished all desire for sleep, he employed himself
in killing several goats, and in preparing an entertainment for his
expected guests, knowing how acceptable it would be to them after
their long run, with nothing but salt provision to live upon.

[Illustration: “Slowly the vessels rose into view.”]

[Illustration: Selkirk running to the boat.]

When the day at length opened, he still saw them, but at a distance
from the shore. His fire had caused great wonder on board, for they
knew the island to be uninhabited, and supposed the light to have
proceeded from some French ships at anchor, with which nation,
England was then at war. In this conclusion they prepared for action,
as they must either fight or want water and other refreshments,
and stood to their quarters all night ready to engage; but, not
perceiving any vessel, they next day, about noon, sent a boat
on shore, with Capt. Dover, Mr. Fry, and six men, all armed, to
ascertain the cause of the fire, and to see that all was safe.

Alexander saw the boat leave the Duke, and pull for the beach. He
ran down joyfully to meet his countrymen, and to hear once more the
human voice. He took in his hand a piece of linen tied upon a small
pole as a flag, which he waved as they drew near, to attract their
attention. At length he heard them call to him, inquiring for a good
place to land, which he pointed out, and flying as swift as a deer
towards it, arrived first, where he stood ready to receive them as
they stepped on shore. He embraced them by turns; but his joy was
too great for utterance, while their astonishment at his strange
appearance, struck them dumb. He had at this time his last shirt upon
his back: his feet and legs were bare, his thighs and body covered
with the skins of wild animals. His beard, which had not been shaved
for four years and four months, was of a great length, while a rough
goat’s-skin cap covered his head. He appeared to them as wild as the
first owners of the skins which he wore. At length they began to
converse, and he invited them to his hut: but its access was so very
intricate, that only Captain Fry went with him over the rocks which
led to it. When Alexander had entertained him in the best manner he
could, they returned to the boat, our hero bearing a quantity of his
roasted goat’s-flesh, for the refreshment of the crew. During their
repast, he gave them an account of his adventures and stay upon the
island, at which they were much surprised. Captains Dover and Fry
invited him to come on board; but he declined their invitation,
until they had satisfied him that Dampier had no command in this
expedition; after which he gave a reluctant consent.

[Illustration: Sailships]

So great was his aversion to Dampier as a commander after the
experience he had of him, that he would rather have remained upon
his island, its lonely possessor, now that he was reconciled to
his fate, than have endured the hardships and trials he had before
experienced under that navigator. This feeling must have arisen, not
from any quarrel or personal dislike to Dampier, but from a knowledge
of his former misconduct in his adventures, arising from his want of
constancy in carrying through any object which he professed to have
in view.

When he came on board the Duke, Dampier gave him an excellent
character, telling Captain Rogers that Selkirk had been the best
man on board the Cinque Ports. Upon this recommendation, he was
immediately engaged on board the Duke. In the afternoon, the ships
were cleared, the sails bent and taken on shore to be mended, and
to make tents for the sick men. Selkirk’s strength and vigor were
of great service to them. He caught two goats in the afternoon.
They sent along with him their swiftest runners and a bull-dog; but
these he soon left far behind, and tired out. He himself, to the
astonishment of the whole crew, brought the two goats upon his back
to the tents.

The two captains remained at the island until the 12th of the month,
busy refitting their ships, and getting on board what stores they
could obtain. During these ten days, Alexander was their huntsman,
and procured them fresh meat. At length all being ready, they set
sail, when a new series of difficulties of another kind, annoyed
Selkirk, similar to those he had felt at his arrival upon the island.
The salt food he could not relish for a long time, having so long
discontinued the use of it; for which reason he lived upon biscuit
and water. Spirits he did not like from the same cause; and besides
he was afraid of falling into intemperance, for his religious
impressions were as yet strong. From the confirmed habit of living
alone, he kept very much to himself, and said little. This frame of
mind, and a serious countenance, continued longer than could have
been expected. Even for some time after his return to England, these
qualities were remarkable, and drew the notice of those to whose
company he was introduced. Shoes gave him great uneasiness when he
first came on board. He had been so long without them, that they
made his feet swell, and crippled his movements; but this wore off
by degrees, and he became once more reconciled to their use. In
other respects he gradually resumed his old habits as a seaman,
but without the vices which sometimes attach to the profession. He
rigidly abstained from profane oaths, and was much respected by both
captains, as well on account of his singular adventure, as of his
skill and good conduct; for, having had his books with him, he had
improved himself much in navigation during his solitude.

The articles he took on shore from the Cinque Ports, were the
following: His chest, containing his clothes and a quantity of linen,
now all spent, his musket, which he brought home with him; a pound of
powder, and balls in proportion; a hatchet and some tools; a knife;
a pewter kettle; his flip-can which he conveyed to Scotland, (at
present in the possession of John Selcraig, his great-grand-nephew;)
a few pounds of tobacco; the Holy Bible; some devotional pieces, and
one or two books on navigation, with his mathematical instruments.

In the capacity of mate, he cruised about for a time, during which
several prizes were taken, and on his return to London, after an
absence of eight years, one month and three days, he found himself
in possession of £800 sterling. As soon as this sum was realized, he
set out for Largo, and arrived in the spring of 1712, at his native
village.

It was in the forenoon of a Sabbath day, when all were at church,
that he knocked at the door of his paternal dwelling, but found
not those whom his heart yearned to see, and his soul longed to
embrace. He set out for church, prompted by his piety and his love
for his parents; for great was the change that had taken place in
his feelings since he had last been within its walls. As soon as he
entered and sat down, all eyes were upon him, for such a personage,
perhaps, had seldom been seen within the church at Largo. He was
elegantly dressed in gold laced clothes; besides, he was a stranger,
which in a country church, is matter of attention to the hearers
at all times. But his manner and appearance would have attracted
the notice of more observing spectators.—After remaining some time
engaged in devotion, his eyes were ever turning to where his parents
and brothers sat, while theirs as often met his gaze; still they
did not know him. At length his mother, whose thoughts perhaps at
this time wandered to her long lost son, knew him, and uttering a
cry of joy, could contain herself no longer. Even in the Meeting
House, she rushed to his arms, unconscious of the impropriety of
her conduct, and the interruption of the service. Alexander and his
friends immediately retired to his father’s house, to give free scope
to their joy and congratulations.

[Illustration: Church and school]

A few days passed away happily in the society of his parents and
friends; but from long habits, he soon felt averse to mixing
in society, and was happiest when alone. Returning, therefore,
frequently to Keil’s Den, a secluded and lonely valley in the
neighborhood, he spent most of his time in solitary wandering and
meditation; till a new object began to engross much of his attention.
In his musing by the burnside, he often met a young girl, tending a
single cow, the property of her parents.

Her lonely occupation and innocent looks, made a deep impression upon
him. He watched her for hours unseen, as she amused herself with
the wild flowers she gathered, or chaunted her rural lays. At each
meeting the impression became stronger, and he felt more interested
in this modest female. At length he addressed himself to her, and
they joined in conversation; he had no aversion to commune with her
for hours together, and began to imagine that he could live and be
happy with a companion such as she. His fishing expeditions were now
neglected. Even his cave became not so sweet a retreat. His mind led
him to Keil’s Den, and the amiable Sophia. He never mentioned this
adventure and attachment to his friends; for he felt ashamed, after
his discourses to them, and the profession he had made of dislike
to human society, to acknowledge that he was upon the point of
marrying, and thereby plunging into the midst of worldly cares. But
he was determined to marry Sophia, though as firmly resolved not to
remain at home to be the subject of their jest. This resolution being
formed, he soon persuaded the object of his choice, to elope with
him, and bid adieu to the romantic glen.

After this elopement, nothing was heard of him for some years. At
length, however, a gay widow, of the name of Frances Candis, or
Candia, came to Largo, to claim the property left to him by his
father, and produced documents to prove her right, from which it
appeared that Sophia Bruce lived but a very few years after her
marriage. He himself, after attaining the rank of Lieutenant, died on
board his Majesty’s ship Weymouth, some time in the year 1723.


POSTSCRIPT.

The chest and cup which Selkirk had with him on the island, are
in the possession of a family in Nether Largo, in Fifeshire, who
reside in the house in which he was born. The former is in excellent
preservation although at least 123 years old. It is made of cedar,
strongly built, and very massy. The initials A. S. are rudely carved
on the lid. The cup is the shell of some kind of nut which probably
grew on the island. The late Mr. Constable, of Edinburgh, caused it
to be much adorned and beautified, by giving it a new pendicle, and
having its edge surmounted with silver.—_Imperial Magazine._


_Verses supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk, during his
solitary abode in the Island of Juan Fernandez._

    I am monarch of all I survey,
      My right there is none to dispute:
    From the centre all round to the sea,
      I am lord of the fowl and the brute.
    Oh solitude! where are the charms,
      That sages have seen in thy face?
    Better dwell in the midst of alarms,
      Than reign in this horrible place.

    I am out of humanity’s reach;
      I must finish my journey alone:
    Never hear the sweet music of speech;
      I start at the sound of my own.
    The beasts that roam over the plain,
      My form with indifference see;
    They are so unacquainted with man,
      Their tameness is shocking to me.

    Society, friendship, and love,
      Divinely bestowed upon man,
    Oh, had I the wings of a dove,
      How soon would I taste you again!
    My sorrows I then might assuage,
      In the ways of religion and truth;
    Might learn from the wisdom of age,
      And be cheer’d by the sallies of youth.

    Religion! what treasure untold
      Resides in that heavenly word!
    More precious than silver or gold,
      Or all that this earth can afford.
    But the sound of the church-going bell,
      These vallies and rocks never heard;
    Ne’er sigh’d at the sound of a knell,
      Or smil’d when a sabbath appear’d.

    Ye winds that have made me your sport,
      Convey to this desolate shore,
    Some cordial endearing report
      Of a land I shall visit no more.
    My friends, do they now and then send
      A wish or a thought after me?
    O tell me I yet have a friend,
      Though a friend I am never to see.

    How fleet is a glance of the mind!
      Compar’d with the speed of its flight,
    The tempest itself lags behind,
      And the swift-wing’d arrows of light.
    When I think of my own native land,
      In a moment I seem to be there;
    But alas! recollection at hand
      Soon hurries me back to despair.

    But the sea-fowl has gone to her nest,
      The beast is laid down in his lair;
    Even here is a season of rest,
      And I to my cabin repair.
    There’s mercy in every place;
      And mercy—encouraging thought!
    Gives even affliction a grace,
      And reconciles man to his lot.

  COWPER.


THE END OF ALEXANDER SELKIRK.




STARBOARD.




  HISTORY
  OF
  THE WANDERINGS
  OF
  TOM STARBOARD.


I herewith give my young readers extracts from a little work under
this title, which I think they will find entertaining. Mr. Starboard
is one of those redoubted travellers, who are generally the heroes
of their best stories, and his adventures are no less varied than
wonderful. But we will let him speak for himself:

“I was two years and a few days wandering over South America. I
travelled about one thousand eight hundred miles; but I did not walk
all the way; oh no! I frequently went with the Indians up their
rivers; and for about five hundred miles I rode on mules, or wild
horses, which I caught by stratagem.

“At night I would find a tree, and lace a rope in and out of two
boughs, so as to form a kind of cradle; thus supported, I slept in
peace, excepting that sometimes the vampire bat would annoy me by
sucking my blood; he did it though so quietly, that I suffered no
pain; and perhaps it was serviceable to me to lose a little blood;
it is not improbable that these flying surgeons kept me in health by
their gentle bleedings. The vampire bat does not subsist entirely by
sucking the blood of living animals; it feeds also on insects and
young fruits.

“One morning, I remember, when I awoke, and was coming down from my
cradle, I found that a rattle snake had coiled itself round the stem
of the tree, and then I really thought it would be all over with me;
but my presence of mind did not forsake me even in this case; for, as
the reptile reared his flat, wide, terrible head, I took such good
aim, and was so near to it that I blew it to atoms. Once I caught a
poisonous serpent, called a _labarri_ snake, that I might look for,
and examine the fangs, which contained its venom. I saw it asleep;
and coming cautiously towards it, I sprang at its neck, which I
grasped tightly with my hands; its mouth was thus forced open; then
taking a small piece of stick, I pressed it on the fang, (the
point of which communicated with the root where the bag of poison is
situated,) and I distinctly saw the venom ooze out: it was of a thick
substance and of a yellow color; of course I killed the creature.”

[Illustration: Starboard in tree]

One day, during my wanderings in South America, I came unawares upon
a herd of wild horses that were grazing quietly on the borders of a
forest. Well,—I had been walking a long way, and felt tired; so I
thought I might as well try to catch one of these horses, and vary
my mode of journeying, by riding. I had read of the manner in which
the Guachos (or South American peasants) catch these animals with
a lasso, or long rope, which has a loop at the end of it; and this
they expertly throw over the head of the animal that they single out:
their dexterity is surprising. I feared, however, to attempt such an
exploit, lest I should fail, and thus frighten them all away: besides
I had no rope that was long enough.

So I set my wits to work, and thus I tried my scheme. I observed
among the trees that skirted the plain, a pool of water: to this pool
I made my way; for, thought I, they will surely come there, by and
by, to drink; so I climbed up into a cinchona, or barktree.

Having fastened one end of my rope tightly round one of the lower
branches, I made the other into a slip-knot or noose; and then I
waited patiently for my expected prey. At last the whole herd of
horses left their pasture in a body, and came neighing and gambling
towards the water, with their tails sailing in the wind, and their
long manes waving about with every graceful turn of their bodies. I
assure you it was rather an appalling sight to see myself close over
the heads of so many powerful animals, that made the ground echo with
their spirited movements.

I sat still, however, enjoying myself with a calabash shell full of
milk, which I had drawn from a _cow-tree_ that grew on the rock near
me.

“A _cow-tree_, Mr. Starboard!” methinks I hear my young readers
exclaim; “A cow-tree! Surely you mean a _cow grazing_, Mr. Starboard.
We know that travellers are privileged to tell pretty big stories,
Mr. Starboard; but there is such a thing, Mr. Starboard; as
overstepping too far the bounds of truth, Mr. Starboard.”

[Illustration: Starboard in tree]

Upon my veracity, my dear young readers, I am in earnest. It was
a _cow-tree_, from which I drew the milk: and the great traveller,
Humboldt, will prove what I have said.

The cow-tree is found on the most barren rocks, where rains rarely
visit it, and it has large woody roots. When its trunk is pierced, a
most delicious, white, thick juice exudes, (or flows out,) which is
quite as pleasant and nourishing as the milk of our cows. The Indians
always make use of it, and it is found in the greatest abundance
about sunrise.

Well: I had just finished my bowl of vegetable milk, when a fine
fellow of a horse came under my cinchona-tree, and stooped to drink;
so I crept to the end of the branch; and as he raised his head, I
slipped the noose over his neck, and drew it tight; the start he gave
when he found himself confined, frightened his companions, and away
they all scampered, leaving me and my prisoner alone.

Instead of striving to break the rope and escape, which he might
have done with ease, his courage seemed weakened by this new kind of
restraint. I had some struggles, it is true; but I quickly conquered
him, and we were soon friends.

I have met, in the course of my life with a variety of other
adventures, which I will narrate to my young readers, if they will
give their attention. I am an old man now and have plenty of leisure;
but the greater portion of my life has been passed in unceasing
activity and has been full of incident:—

    “Up to the north—the polar north,
      With the whalers did I go,
    ’Mong the mountains of eternal ice
      To the land of the thawless snow.

    “We were hemmed in by icy rocks,
      The strength of man was vain;
    But at once the arm of God was shown
      The rocks were rent in twain.

    “And then we sailed to the tropic seas,
      That are like crystal clear,
    Thou wilt marvel much, thou little child,
      These glorious things to hear.”




THE SHIPWRECK.

  Doubling Cape Horn—A storm—Our Traveller Shipwrecked Taken
  up—Earthquake—Escape to the shore—Adventures on shore—Journey to
  Bonaventura—Safe Arrival.


Here our friend Tom Starboard in his sailor style, gives an account
of a remarkable shipwreck. But there is nothing better than to let
him tell the story himself. The account is natural, though it may be
a fiction.

“We did not go through the Straits of Magellan, as the passage is
dangerous; but we passed them and doubled Cape Horn. We went merrily
on, touching land, occasionally, to take in water, fruit, and live
stock, now and then speaking a vessel, or finding some new kind of
fish, or wonderful bird, till we neared the island of Juan Fernandez.
Here the weather changed, and such a storm came down upon us as I
never saw before or since.

“Before it reached its height, and while we were all in good spirits,
a gust of wind blew my hat off, when Ned, to make me laugh, called
out, ‘Tom, your hair will be blown off too, if you don’t hold it on;
my shoestrings have been whisked out this half-hour.’

“But the fury of the storm so increased, as to put all laughing and
joking out of our thoughts. Night came on so rapidly that it seemed
as if a mighty black cloud had fallen suddenly over us. The gallant
vessel which had weathered so many storms, struck on a sunken rock,
and went to pieces, as if she had been made of glass! I got entangled
in some loose rigging, which had been snapped and unravelled like
twine, and this circumstance, which I expected would be the cause
of my death, saved my life. Part of the topmast was attached to the
ropes which the furious blast twisted round me, as it swept off my
shipmates in crowds, into the fierce waters: and away I went also, at
the same moment, with my brave captain!—I never more saw a soul from
the vessel, nor an atom of her stout planks.

“How long I floated in my net work of ropes, I cannot tell. I
remember the wrath of the panting billows, as they were urged onwards
by the furious hurricane. On they dashed over my defenceless head,
throwing the shattered mast against my wounded limbs, and straining
the cords till they cut into my flesh. I remember, too, that the
storm seemed to subside as quickly as it had arisen. Then a noise
as if a vessel toiling through the waves came over me, and a mixed
feeling of fear and hope passed through my confused brain;—then a
shout and a grappling with my coiling ropes;—then a sensation of the
soft air, and of my mounting through it;—and then a buzz of voices,
as I lay in quietness on a solid floor.

[Illustration: Person in rowboat]

[Illustration: Sailing ship]

“Alas! how wretched I felt, when I found that all the voices were
strange, the language foreign, and the faces dark and unknown to
me. A Portuguese merchant vessel, bound for the city and port of
Guayaquil, had picked me up.

“I cannot describe to you the forlorn state of my feelings, after the
terrible wreck. My own situation, however, and the altered mode of my
existence, I did not consider till I was made to feel it severely, by
the coarse treatment I met with from those who saved my life. I was
made to work my way—that I expected, and could not complain of—but I
felt sadly the difference in the manners of the captain and his crew,
compared with those of the “Speedwell.”

“I thanked the captain for saving my life, and told him I intended
to leave the ship. This, to my surprise, he said I should not do. I
replied that he had no control over me; that I was an Englishman, and
could not be compelled to serve in a foreign vessel. Then, said he,
pay me for your passage from Juan Fernandez, and you may leave the
ship. I told him this was impossible, as I had lost every thing in
the fatal wreck. At this he only laughed in my face, and said; ‘That
is not my look out; you shall pay me or stay where you are;’ and with
an oath, turned on his heel, and left me to my own sad feelings.”

Tom determined, at once, to embrace the first opportunity to escape.
But they had dropped anchor two or three miles from the shore, and
how could he effect it? Besides he was closely watched. But the
vessel was soon to sail on a long voyage, and being called to take
his turn, one night in the watch, with two or three others, he
determined to make the attempt.

“This night, or never—said I to myself, as I took my station. While
I was walking the deck, one of my shipmates at the mast-head, and
the other astern, the ship suddenly quivered, as if she were in an
ague fit!—down slipped the fellow from on high, and fell flat on his
face; the other rushed forward, and kneeled beside him, both crossing
themselves and saying prayers to their saints. I lost no time, but
seizing a board, I hastily lashed it to my back with a rope (that
when I became fatigued with swimming, I might turn and float,) and
slipping astern, let myself down into the water. The noise of the
splash I feared would betray me, and I gave up all for lost, though
the next minute, I found they were all praying, and took courage and
quietly struck off. I made but little headway, however, owing to the
board on my back.

“As I continued my toilsome passage towards the shore, I heard the
loud bellowing of the troubled earth, and felt the water jar me, as
if it had been a solid substance. Suddenly a towering volcano, which
I took to be Cotopaxi, at above one hundred miles distance, appeared
illuminated like an immense light-house; the thundering increased,
and shrieks and other fearful noises were borne to me over the water.
At last, when nearly exhausted, I was thrown ashore, where I lay
to recover breath and strength, but oh, the distress and confusion
that then took place! Many of the inhabitants came crowding down to
the water’s edge, for safety; houses had been destroyed; the earth
was rocking and heaving like an angry ocean; streams of water had
gushed out of the ground where no water had ever been seen before;
suffocating fumes of sulphur burst up under the feet of the terrified
and flying sufferers; and when the morning dawned, the face of
the country seemed changed. Still the town itself (Guayaquil) had
sustained but little damage, and the inhabitants began to return to
their dwellings and their business. They are so much accustomed to
earthquakes all over Peru, that it is not surprising they should so
soon lose their terrors.

“In the general distress, I met with but little compassion or
assistance, which I then thought strange, but I had not yet learned
that affliction often hardens the heart. No one relieved my hunger;
so I ventured to steal a handful of nuts from a heap that had fallen
out of a basket which had been thrown down during the night. These I
beat between two stones, and mixed with a little water; and this was
my food for that day.

“As I wandered about among the shipping, looking in vain for a vessel
bound to Europe, I recollected that the bay of Guayaquil is famous
for a small shell fish, about the size of a nut. It is called
_turbine_, and produces a purple dye, reckoned the best in the world.
So I boldly seized a small boat that was lying at anchor, and pushing
out into the bay, I caught a few of these valuable little fish, and
returned to shore again, before the owner of the boat had missed it.
I was now sure of a resource against starving, provided any one would
buy my turbines. I was soon fortunate enough to find a purchaser, so
I pursued the plan for several days, always taking the same boat,
which no one appeared to claim. Perhaps the owner, poor fellow, had
been destroyed by the earthquake.

“I slept every night in a hut close to the sea; and on the
fifth morning, I found a French vessel in the harbor, which was
proceeding on her voyage to Bonaventura and to Acapulco, in Mexico.
I immediately went to the captain, and offered to work my way to
the port of Bonaventura, if he would give me my passage. And after
telling him my story, he kindly granted my request; and in due time
we reached the port, where with feelings of very great gratitude to
the captain, I left the vessel.”




JOURNEY ACROSS THE ANDES.

  Tom Arms and Equips for his Journey—His Mule—Sliding down the
  Mountains—Mule Escapes—Singular Bridges—How he subsisted—Diamonds
  and Gold.


I had formed the strange resolution of crossing over the continent
of South America alone, and on foot! I had read Humbolt’s _Personal
Narrative_, and I longed to see the wonders which he speaks of. Some
excuse may be made for me perhaps, when it is considered that I had a
natural fondness for a wandering life and for the wonders of nature;
besides, I could meet with no ship on this western side of the
continent, bound for my native country. The French captain, with whom
I came from Guayaquil, thought me a little deranged; still I believe
the good man was glad to get rid of me. He gave me thirty francs; a
gun, and some gunpowder, saying with a shrug of his shoulder, as he
bade me farewell, “You are very courageous; but remember you must
eat; and this gun will be of great use to you.”

[Illustration: Mule and rider]

I provided myself with a wallet, in which to put my shoes, stockings,
gloves and a shirt; then inquiring the road to Zita, I set out
before sunrise, towards the Andes. I was five months in crossing
the desolate northern extremities of those giants of the earth.
I bought—nay, I did not buy, I found a mule that was browsing on
some prickly shrub, (I forget its name,) in a wild pass of the
mountains. She was saddled and bridled, and had evidently lost her
master. I looked in vain for some hours, but could find no trace
of any traveller, so I felt justified in taking possession of her;
and it was well I did, for the sure-footed beast took me safely
over dangerous passes that I never could have crossed without her
assistance. Many times has the creature, with a sagacity that was
astonishing, stood on the summit of a peak like a sugar loaf, looking
from side to side; then slowly taking aim, has slid down with me on
her back, for thirty, forty, or fifty feet![1]

One night, however, she played truant, and slipped her bridle, which
I always wound round my arm while I slept, and disappeared, leaving
me on the borders of a trackless forest.

At one time, I crossed a mighty torrent that was boiling along, at
the depth of a hundred feet below me, through, a narrow ravine;—and
what sort of a bridge do you think I ventured upon? Two large
fragments of rocks, one from each side, had fallen together, as I
supposed, during some earthquake, and had formed a natural bridge,
quite firm and safe over which I crossed.

Another time I passed a chasm of prodigious depth, near an ancient
village, the ingenious inhabitants of which had constructed a bridge
of rushes, in the following manner. Two strong posts were fixed in
the rock on each side, and to these were fastened ropes of rushes;
the path upon them being made of the same material, platted together.
On each side was also a rope for the passenger to steady himself by.

These bridges, in fact, are the origin of our chain or suspension
bridges, but the elastic and light nature of the rushes makes the
motion of the bridge very unpleasant. Indeed when I had one day gone
about half way across one of them, my head began to swim, and I was
obliged to sit down to recover myself; for I really thought I should
never reach the opposite side. I sat there for some time, swinging in
a most perilous yet ridiculous situation I assure you.

I wished much to see the interior of one of the mines, but they were
too far off. The quicksilver mines of Huancavelica is particularly
curious, having a complete town and its cathedral deep in the bowels
of the earth.

I shall not attempt to tell you half the dangers, difficulties, and
troubles I have met with. I made the sun my guide by day, and the
stars by night. I roosted in trees, like the birds, and ate fruit
and herbs like the beast. I explored mountain torrents, which no
human beings, probably, had never seen before; found diamonds in
their beds, which had been dried up; collected gold from the mud of
the rivers, and a great many curiosities, which I was obliged to
throw away, for want of convenience to carry them. I met with tribes
of Indians who had never heard of the name of England, or seen an
Englishman.


FOOTNOTES:

[1] This part of the story may seem a little unnatural, but many
travellers make similar statements.




VISIT TO A CAVERN.

  Visit to a Cavern—The Guacharos—Night sounds—Return—An alarm—My
  escape—Thanks for deliverance.


One evening, during my journey, having refreshed myself with some of
the fruit that grew near me—for I always found food enough in South
America, even in the forests—I took a fancy to explore a cavern that
I saw in the rock, near which a cascade tumbled. Resolving to be well
prepared for any enemy I might meet with, I took my gun with me.

I ought to tell you, by the way, that after I lost my mule, I was
obliged for some time to content myself with a horse. I left him
grazing at the foot of a bark tree. You have heard of the Peruvian
bark, which is used so much in medicine, I dare say. I tied my horse,
then, to a tree, which produces this sort of bark.

Well, all things prepared, I set out on my expedition. As I drew
near the lofty cavern, I was astonished at the deafening noise
of innumerable wings, and looking up in the uncertain twilight, I
saw hundreds—I think I might say thousands—of birds flying about,
preparing to leave their home, in search of food. They were the
_guacharos_. I had read of them in Humboldt’s narrative, but to use
the sailor phrase, I had never before ‘run foul’ of any of them. They
are night birds, that somewhat resemble our owls, but instead of
roosting on trees, these creatures build in caverns. A sight of them
is well worth the trouble and danger of exploring one of these dark
and gloomy mansions. Their noise is prodigious!

In fact, one of the most wonderful things a traveller meets with in
South America, is the different and strange sounds at night. The
howling monkeys, the night-birds, the sharp cries of the jaguars, the
roar of the pumas, the flapping of wings, the rustling of branches,
and other noises, are astonishing!

How different from the lone solitude of our woods in New England,
where the only sound, perhaps, that disturbs the silence of the
night, is the distant hooting of the owl, or the howling of some dog.
Indeed, the greater part of the time, every creature is so silent
that you would scarcely know that any living thing was waking.

Well, I stayed so long in the bird cavern, that it was quite dark
when I got back to my horse, and I had not yet made up my nightly
fire. So I groped round in the dark and collected, as well as I
could, some leaves and sticks, and began to kindle my fire. But just
as I was kneeling down to blow at the heap of fuel I had lighted, my
horse suddenly started, drew back to the full length of his cord,
rolled his eyes, enlarged his nostrils, threw his ears forward,
erected his main and tail, and stood there the very picture of
terror. “There is danger now,” thought I; but I was resolved to meet
it. So I jumped up instantly, and looking into the gloom, in the
direction which my horse’s eyes took, I saw a dark mass of something
moving slowly along among the bushes.

I was up the tree instantly, I assure you, taking with me my gun,
which I had rested against its trunk. For a minute or two all was
quiet. Soon, however, the dark body approached a little nearer, but
so quietly, that I should have thought very little more of it, had
not my horse shown symptoms of so much alarm. I levelled my piece and
fired, and, as I suppose, wounded the animal; for he bounded up, and
darted off into the thicket.

Just at this moment the fire burst into a bright blaze, which kept
the wild animals away for the rest of that night. I did not rest or
sleep very well, however, for I had used the rope that I commonly
tied myself with, to fasten my horse. One thing, however, you may
easily suppose, I did not forget to do; which was to give thanks to
my great Preserver, who ‘_guides the helm_’, as we sailors say, by
land, as well as by sea.




TRAVELS AMONG THE INDIANS.

The Steppes—New troubles—Bad water—Eating clay and ants.


I came at last to the dreary plains of South America, called
_Steppes_, and here my troubles were unusually severe. All kinds
of stinging insects, serpents, and loathesome reptiles annoyed me;
besides I could hardly get food and drink. Sometimes, though rarely,
I was so fortunate as to find a plant resembling the aloe, containing
a quantity of pure water in its stem; but when I could not get this,
I was obliged to drink the horrible water of the rivers, swarming
with animalculæ (little creatures almost too small to be seen by
the naked eye) to such a degree that I seemed to swallow about as
much solid matter as liquid. As to food, I was contented, often, to
swallow little balls of earth, as the natives do; for though it would
be disgusting now, it served then, to keep the breath of life in me.
It is a very fat, buttery kind of earth, and is prepared for food by
baking it slightly in the fire. You are aware, I suppose, that the
natives of Japan, Siberia, Africa, and other parts of the world, also
sometimes eat clay.

After travelling a long time, I came unexpectedly upon a wandering
tribe of Indians, consisting of only three or four families; and,
entering one of their wretched huts, built of clay and leaves, I
asked them for food.

At first they did not understand me, but with the help of signs, I
soon made them comprehend that I was hungry; upon which one of them
took down a bag containing a kind of greasy, spotted, whitish paste,
gave me some of it, pointed to the fire, and went and lay down in his
hammock, which with fourteen others was slung from some beams above.

I was so tired and wet, for it was now the rainy season, and so glad
to find something to eat better than clay, that I was going to cram
it down, when I saw unexpectedly that the black spots on it were
large ants. I threw it down instantly; but soon recollecting that a
_paste_ mixed with ants, is represented by Humboldt as a very common
food among some of these tribes of Indians, and feeling impelled by
hunger to eat something, I at last eat a small quantity of it.

These were the laziest sort of people I ever met with. They seemed
to have no wants, beyond mere eating and drinking;[2] they have no
clothes to mend, or domestic cares to attend to; no fishing, no
hunting to prepare for.

I quitted them as soon as I could, I assure you, for they were almost
too lazy to furnish me with food; besides, I was not without fears,
from the accounts given by other travellers, that they would master
energy enough to kill me for food, as a treat!

Before I left them, however, I was greatly rejoiced, one day, to hear
the word “Orinoco;” for, on inquiry, I found by signs that this long
wished for river was only a little way to the south.

[Illustration: Eel]


FOOTNOTES:

[2] I know we have _some_ just such people as this in every country,
at least in every one that I have seen; but here they were _all_
stupid. There were no active and industrious persons among them.




BIRDS AND BEASTS OF SOUTH AMERICA.

  Bathing—A shock—Electrical Eel—The Bell-bird—The Sloth—how
  slandered.


One day, about noon, as I came to a pleasant looking pond or lake,
beautifully over-shadowed with trees, the thought struck me that I
would take a bath. But I had scarcely entered the water, before I
felt a shock like that of an electrical machine, and a very severe
one, too.

“An earthquake?” you will perhaps say. By no means. The shock was
given by an electrical eel. However, it instantly took away all my
strength, and nearly all my senses, too; and I believe, in my heart,
I should never have been here, but for help. It was close to a
Missionary village, and an Indian woman happening to come down to the
pond to dip up water, just at that moment, and guessing my situation,
lost no time in dragging me out before the animal had an opportunity
of repeating his shocks.

I had now reached a better country. The mornings, especially, were
uncommonly beautiful. Birds of every color greeted my ears with their
songs; and among the rest, I particularly noticed the _companion_ or
_bell-bird_. Perched on the top of a lofty mora tree, this bird used
to awaken me by his clear ringing note that sounds exactly like a
fine toned bell, and may be heard two or three miles. He is white,
with a black spire on his head, and about three inches in length.

Among other creatures that arrested my attention, was the harmless,
but misrepresented and slandered _sloth_. I used often to see him
looking down in my face from the lofty trees, where he feels most at
home and most happy.

[Illustration: Sloth]

It is true that after he has been caught and put on the ground, he is
a dull lazy animal; for he is out of his element, almost as much as a
fish out of water, or a human being in it.

But I will give you a few more particulars of this animal. He is
formed to live on trees, and is never found any where else, unless by
force or accident. While the weather is calm, he remains suspended or
hanging from the branches; but during a high wind, when the boughs
of the closely growing trees are shaken and _laced together_, as
it were, he passes from one to the other with ease and quickness.
He never moves _upon_, but _under_ the branches; he hangs there to
rest, to eat, and to sleep. The color of his fur is so nearly that
of the moss on the bark, that it is not easy to discover him, except
when he is moving. In short, instead of being an object of disgust,
or even of pity, I do not know a creature that appears more happy,
as long as man and other animals will let him alone. It is man, by
his “meddling” that makes a great many of the woes that his fellow
animals feel. It is guns and snares, and traps, and aviaries, and
cages, that make birds and beasts most unhappy.




THE WILL-O’-THE-WISP.

  India rubber shoes—Aloe-leaf hats—Will-o’-the-wisps—What they are.


I had now been so long or in the forests and among the Indians, that
I began to be in want of some of those things that are only to be
found in the abodes of civilized men. My shoes, in particular, began
to fail me; and I dreaded the idea of going barefooted day after day.

But as good luck would have it, or rather, perhaps I ought to say,
as a kind Providence _designed_ it, I fell in with an India rubber
tree, into which somebody had made incisions, and from which the gum
was now flowing. So I let it flow upon my shoes, in order to form a
new sole. In this undertaking, however, I was not quite so successful
as in making a new hat to supply the place of my old one. I found a
species of aloe, from the tough thick leaves of which, by splitting
them I made me a very good hat, especially for the dry season. In the
rainy season, it would not have been quite so comfortable, I suppose.

One night, as I had taken up my quarters on the verge of a forest,
and had got seated in my cradle, which you know was among the thick
branches of some huge tree, I saw a light glancing among the trees.
I came down from my roosting place, almost in an instant, and went
towards it, hoping there was a village near; for I was sadly in want
of a better rope to fasten myself with; and the Indians of these
villages make some very ingenious ones, by twisting together the long
fibres of the leaves of the cocoa-tree.

Well, as I said, I followed the light, but _where_, do you think?
Why out of the forest, to be sure, but into something worse than a
forest. I found myself, ere I was aware of the nature of my guide, up
to my knees in a quagmire: and what was more mortifying still, I was
not much nearer the light than when I set out.

I began now to suspect what it was. It was evidently one of
those things to which they give the name of _ignis fatuus_, or
_will-o’-the-wisp_. They are seen, as you know, (and as I might have
known had my wits been about me) in low swampy places, peeping and
dodging about. They are supposed to be _gaseous_; but perhaps you do
not all of you know what _gaseous_ means; and I am hardly philosopher
or chemist enough to tell you.

The atmosphere or air which we breathe is composed of two
ingredients, or _gases_, as the chemists call them. One is oxygen.
This is the supporter of life and flame, for if it could be taken
out of the air we could not breathe again, and every candle and lamp
would be extinguished in a moment. The other is nitrogen or azote,
which _destroys_ life.

I told you the air we breathe was made up of these two airs or gases;
and it is. But many other gases sometimes float in it. One of these
is hydrogen. It is produced in various ways, and is one of the most
inflammable substances in the world. Now electricity, (or lightning,
for it is the same thing) which is a subtle or penetrating fluid,
always exists in the atmosphere, and has at all times power to ignite
(set on fire) a vapor so inflammable as hydrogen, if it happens to
come in contact with it. Now, again, as this hydrogen gas is most
readily produced by the decomposition of water, and combines or
mixes with various other matters arising from decaying vegetation,
putrifying animal substances, in low and marshy swamps, a tiny spark
is sufficient to ignite these combined gases, and thus set off the
Will-o’-the-Wisps.




THE AEROLITES.

  Stones falling—Where they come from—Arrival at the river Orinoco.


Well, I extricated myself from the quagmire and returned,—though not
without some difficulty, I had wandered so far, to my roosting place.
The next morning as I was preparing to descend the tree, the sky
being clear, and the sun shining, I was alarmed by a hissing noise
in the air; and looking quickly around, I was just in time to see an
immense mass of something, I could not tell what, falling from above,
with a loud noise, and crushing in its fall, the branches of a lofty
tamarind tree.

Hastening to the spot, I found, to my surprise, an enormous piece of
metal, quite hot, which had fallen with such force that it lay half
buried in the swampy ground.

I stood lost in wonder. When I was a boy, I had often picked up lumps
of metal on the Wiltshire Downs, in England, but though told they
were aerolites, I did not at that time believe a word of it. “Can the
thin pure air,” thought I then, “form such hard bodies? Or can there
be great iron mountains, and forges, and blacksmiths, and every thing
of that sort, up in the air?”

But now a huge mass lay at my feet. I had seen it fall. It was still
hot. The boughs of the tamarind tree lay scattered about in every
direction. How could I doubt any longer? Was it reasonable to deny
facts, before my eyes, because I could not account for them?

Do you wish to know if I can account for them _now_? Not a whit
better. The moon, some say, has volcanic mountains which throw them
out. But I don’t believe it. Think what an immense force of pressure
it must take to send up a huge stone from one of our volcanoes, quite
beyond the sphere of the earth’s attraction, so as to be met by the
attraction of the moon and be carried to it! Do you believe such a
thing could ever happen?

Nearly all we know about it is briefly this. Heavy bodies, of
every variety of size, from an ounce to 300 pound’s weight, have
at different times fallen from the atmosphere. These heavy bodies
are really composed of earth and metals. They all contain the same
substances, though sometimes varying a little in the proportions;
viz. iron, nickel, manganese, silica or silex, sulphur, magnesia and
lime.

Perhaps I ought to add that though I _know_ nothing more about
these wonderful phenomena, it is more generally believed that these
substances are _formed_ in the vast regions of the _atmosphere_, by
causes unknown except to Him who _created_ the atmosphere, “in whom
we live, and move, and have our being.”

Soon after my last adventure I arrived at the Mission villages on the
banks of the river Orinoco. Here I met with a Spanish gentleman of
distinction, by the name of Don Calao. He was a merchant, and sold
monkeys, mackaws, turtles’ eggs, &c., very odd things for a man to
trade with, as I then thought. I have something to say about turtles’
eggs in my next letter.

[Illustration: Turtle]




THE HARVEST OF TURTLE’S EGGS.


You would wonder how there could be any turtles remaining in South
America, if you were to see the thousands and thousands that are
destroyed by the Indians every year, at the _Harvest of Eggs_, as
they call it. I attended one of these hunts or harvests, one day,
with Don Calao the merchant, and saw the whole process.

We all went in a boat, early one morning, to an Island in the river,
where the sand was smooth, and which the tide had left bare. A person
then took a long pole, and walked about, thrusting it into the sand,
in every direction, and wherever it penetrated easily, he knew there
was a nest of turtle’s eggs. So then they dug down, and when they
found any, they put them in a basket which they brought for the
purpose.

Numbers of Indians were there, from all the neighboring shores, and
immense numbers of eggs were collected. They make a kind of oil of
the yolk, which is used in cooking, as well as for burning in their
houses.

It is supposed that not fewer than a million of turtles lay their
eggs at the mouth of the great river Orinoco. More than three
millions of eggs were taken the year I was there. Each turtle lays,
on an average, seventy eggs. You may be surprised that out of seventy
millions of eggs laid, only three millions were taken. But so many
are broken, so many hunted out and devoured by the jaguars and other
animals that feed upon them, that the wonder is, rather, that we find
the vast number that we do. Many escape and are hatched however, for
I saw in one instance, the whole shore of the Orinoco, swarming with
little turtles, just hatched, and scrambling towards the water to
escape from the Indian children who were catching them.

The turtles lay their eggs during the night, in large holes, which
they scratch in the sand. They then cover them up, and leave them to
be warmed into life by the sun. The eggs are larger than pigeons’
eggs, and when well preserved, by slightly boiling or by drying in
the sun, are very pleasant food.

We saw some large shells of turtles which the jaguars had emptied as
neatly as if the flesh had been cut away with a sharp knife. Those
animals hunt the poor creatures, catch them, turn them on their
backs—you know they cannot turn back again—and then devour them at
their leisure.

[Illustration: Jaguar]




THE ANIMALS.

[Animals of South America—Jaguar—Water Hog.]


The same day that we went to the egg harvest, as we were sailing
along on the river, we saw a jaguar feasting on a chiquire or water
hog, and a large flock of vultures hovering round him, as if they
grudged him every mouthful he swallowed. Finally they troubled him so
much, that he took up his prey and carried it off into the adjacent
forest.

But I found creatures in South America, more terrible than serpents,
jaguars, or crocodiles. You will wonder, perhaps, what they could be.
Then I’ll tell you. They were musquetoes, white flies, and ants.

Musquetoes are indeed troublesome every where; but nowhere that I
have been—and I have been in all parts of the world—so much so as in
South America. Why, we seemed to breathe them, almost, instead of
air. We were never free from them except at midnight; and then other
insects, huge bats, and jaguars, kept us in continual alarm.

Sleeping rooms there, are sometimes built on poles, or scaffolding,
higher than these cruel insects ever fly, which is found to be about
twelve feet from the level of the rivers; and in these apartments
we were able to obtain a little breathing comfort. Vast regions of
the country are rendered uninhabitable by the different species of
tormenting animals which infest it. When two persons meet in the
morning, the first question often is, “How are you to-day for the
musquetoes?” I have had both my legs swelled to a most enormous size,
by the bites of these animals.

In some parts of the country the Indians bury themselves, all but
their heads, in the sand while they sleep; in others, they assemble
all the cows in the village, and pass their nights among them, for
it is found that they are not so troublesome in the neighborhood of
cattle.

Sometimes they build a kind of oven, without doors or windows, having
only a little hole, through which they creep on their hands and
knees. They then light a fire in it of wet brushwood, which makes a
great smoke and drives off the insects; then closing the door of the
oven, they go to sleep. But I could not endure the smoke as well as I
could the musquetoes.

As to the _white flies_, they are so very small, that if you were to
use musquetoe curtains, they would have to be wetted to prevent these
tiny creatures from making their way through the threads. Their sting
is exceedingly painful.

The _termites_ are a sort of ant that eats paper, pasteboard,
parchment, &c, so that there are no ancient records of the countries
in which they are found. But there is another species of ant which
devours juicy green leaves, such as salads; so that when the
inhabitants wish for a few dishes of pleasant cooling herbs, they
make a garden _in the air_.

You will smile, but I assure you that I state nothing but what I have
seen. They procure an old boat, or some frame of that description,
raise it on dry poles, then fill it with earth, and sow their seeds.
The destructive ants, travelling as they do in bands, not knowing
there is any thing growing above, pass by these bare poles or
supporters, and the plants are saved.

[Illustration: Person sitting under tree]




BEAUTIFUL ANIMALS.

  Some beautiful animals in South America—The Titi Monkey The Widow
  Monkey—End of the Journey.


By this time I fear you will begin to think that there is nothing
to be found in all South America, but dangerous passes, savage men,
ferocious beasts, venomous serpents and reptiles, and troublesome
insects. But you are mistaken. Humboldt would tell you so.
Woodbridge, too, in his geography says that “the finest fruits, the
most beautiful vegetables, and the largest and loftiest trees, are
found in the Torrid Zone,” and much of South America lies, you know,
in this zone. He says also,—and he says right,—that it produces not
only the fiercest and most dangerous animals, and the largest and
most venomous serpents and insects, but _some_ animals which are
among the “most beautiful” in the world.

I think one or two of the monkey race which I saw, are among the
most beautiful of the animal kingdom. One species, called the Titi,
pleased me particularly. It is very small; its hair is of a beautiful
golden color; and it is a more striking resemblance to a child than
any thing I ever saw in my life. It is also very timid, and when any
body alarms it, its large eyes fill with tears.[3]

The Titis are very fond of insects, particularly of spiders. It is
said—but I cannot vouch for the truth of it—that when an engraving
of an insect on which it feeds has been shone it, it would dart out
its paw in hopes of catching it; but that when pictures of those on
which it does not feed are presented, it takes no notice of them.

The Titi Monkey is also very fond of warmth. If several of them
are confined in a cage, and a cooling shower comes on, they crowd
together, and twine their legs and tails round one another, to keep
themselves warm! One that was tamed used to run after a person that
wore large sleeves to get into them! The Indians say that they
sometimes meet groups of ten or twelve of them in the forests, crying
terribly, because those on the outside want to get in the middle to
be warmer.

There is another beautiful animal of the same race called the _Widow
Monkey_. Its hair is black, soft, and glossy; its face is of a
whitish color; the neck has a band in front, about an inch broad, the
hinder feet are black, and the fore feet white. In these white marks
on the black monkey, the inhabitants imagine they discover the veil,
the handkerchief, and the gloves of a _widow in mourning_.

But perhaps you are tired of my stories, and wish to come to the end
of my journey. Well the rest is quickly told. Don Calao, the Spanish
gentleman, very kindly assisted me in getting down the river, to the
Island of St. Thome, near its mouth, where I was so fortunate as to
meet with a merchant vessel bound to my native country. I procured a
passage, and after a long and rather boisterous voyage, reached home
in safety.


THE END.


FOOTNOTES:

[3] This is very remarkable, if true. Young naturalists, is our
traveller correct?




  Transcriber’s Notes

  pg 50 Changed: he had no avertion to commune
             to: he had no aversion to commune

  pg 57 Changed: which I canght by stratagem
             to: which I caught by stratagem

  pg 58 Changed: perhaps it was servicable
             to: perhaps it was serviceable

  pg 67 Changed: We went merrilly on
             to: We went merrily on

  pg 82 Changed: motion of the bridge very unpleassant
             to: motion of the bridge very unpleasant

  pg 95 Changed: give the name of ignus fatuus
             to: give the name of ignis fatuus

  pg 99 Changed: the tamarind tree lay scatteried
             to: the tamarind tree lay scattered

  pg 103 Changed: How are you to-day for the musquitoes
              to: How are you to-day for the musquetoes

  pg 104 Changed: The termites is a sort of ant
              to: The termites are a sort of ant

  pg 104 Changed: such us sallads
              to: such as salads